According to custom, the Spanish fleet fired a salute before entering the port to show that it had no hostility. According to the rules set by the British in the 17th century, one cannon was fired from the warship, and three cannons were fired back on the shore. This was also later
The origin of the 21-gun salute.
However, as a latecomer to the West Coast of North America, the Overseas Corps does not have this set of rules. All its own ships enter the port through radio contact, and whistles are blown when entering and leaving the port. Although the Russian ships previously fired salutes when entering the port, the forts did not respond to them.
There was no response. The Russians were quite puzzled at that time, wondering why they didn't follow the rules?
In fact, the reason is very simple. The arsenal in Beihai Town has never produced 75 mm caliber blank ammunition. If he used live ammunition to repay the salute, Lu Qi felt that it would be too wasteful, so he simply did not fire.
Things are different now. Zhao Xin, known as the "Mythical Beast of the Northern Navy", has arrived. His stockpile of artillery shells has increased by thousands. Lu Qi has become so wealthy that he would be sorry for his conscience if he doesn't show off.
So after the Spaniards' seven-gun salute was fired, the gunfire rumbled immediately from the Golden Gate Fort. In order to frighten the Spaniards, Rucci asked four groups of artillerymen to fire out 21 artillery shells as quickly as possible, and one group fired continuously.
Six shots, and the other three groups shoot five shots in a row.
In an instant, the sea three kilometers away from the fort was like a boiling pot. Although the water column set off by the explosion was not very high, it could not withstand the rising and falling. It was truly spectacular. Not to mention the Spaniards on the two Manila galleons, even the water columns in the port
The Russians on the two-masted merchant ship all opened their mouths and were stunned.
Shortly after the "Salute" was fired, a large red assault boat sailed out from the pier on the east side of the Cape Fort, carrying an officer and four soldiers, and sped away quickly in the direction of the Spanish fleet.
At this time, Zhao Xin walked back and said to Lu Qi: "Send someone to call that Baranov. I will talk to him first. You will deal with the Spaniards today. Tell them that the meeting venue needs to be arranged tomorrow."
Let’s talk formally in the morning.”
"No problem. Do you want to arrange an assistant for you?" Lu Qi had already heard that Zhao Xin spoke fluent Russian, but he had never seen it before.
"Just look for that He Xiyang."
Lu Qi said in surprise: "He? Can he do it?"
Zhao Xin said nonchalantly: "That boy studied the navy. Let him get familiar with the Russians first, and then let him be responsible for the liaison with Alaska."
He Xiyang never expected that the revenge for yesterday's kick would come so quickly. An hour later, when he received the order to report to the conference room of the base, he saw Zhao Xin sitting on the chair as soon as he entered the door.
"you?"
He Xiyang, who was only nineteen years old, was a little confused for a moment. He didn't understand why the man he met yesterday was here. Wasn't he from the engineering team? However, when he walked to the long table and looked carefully at the chair opposite
Suddenly, the corners of his mouth began to twitch involuntarily, and his legs became a little weak.
At this time, although Zhao Xin had a fake beard on his face, he was not wearing a hat. In addition, there was plenty of light in the room, so the outline of his face appeared extremely clear.
He Xiyang would never forget this face even if he died. You must know that the bust portrait of the man in front of you can be seen almost everywhere under the rule of Beihai Town on the other side of the sea. Many people have it in their homes and worship it like a god, not to mention in military academies and military camps.
.
He Xiyang unconsciously looked at the wall on the right and saw that the half-length photo of Prince Zhao that was originally hanging was missing for some reason, leaving only a shallow rectangular mark on the wall.
Well, Zhao Xin had someone take down the frame. He didn't want the Russians to recognize who he was.
"Lieutenant Lieutenant He Xiyang of the Navy has been ordered to report here! Please give instructions!" He Xiyang finally mustered up the courage, and in line with the mentality of "stretching out one's head and retracting one's head is also the same", he stood at attention and performed a military salute.
Zhao Xin looked at the young man in front of him, with a smile on his face, and then raised his hand to signal the guard behind him. The guard stepped forward, picked up a piece of order on the table, and said: "Lieutenant He Xiyang, via Kinmen Base Commander Lu
After research, it has been decided that you will serve as an assistant to cooperate with our special envoy to participate in commercial negotiations with the Russians. With this order, the commander of Beihai Town Kinmen Base..."
He Xiyang stood upright without moving, feeling that time had passed extremely long. After finally waiting for the guard to finish reading the order, he saw Zhao Xin stood up from the chair, walked around the table to him, stretched out his hand and said: "Introduce yourself.
My surname is Liu, my name is Liu Sheng, and my external identity is the special envoy sent by His Highness King Zhao, you can call me Chief Liu."
What a mess! He Xiyang was stunned for a moment, but when he saw His Royal Highness King Zhao blinking his left eye at him, he realized and understood that the other party's identity must be kept secret.
"Yes!" After saying that, he cautiously stretched out his hand and shook it with Zhao Xin.
Ah! His Highness's hand is big, soft, and warm... I rub it! It's still very strong, and it hurts my bones when I hold it. It seems that the sequelae of yesterday's kick are not small. In an instant, He Xiyang suddenly
There is an inexplicable pride. Looking at the entire Beihai Navy, who dares to kick King Zhao? Me! Only me! Not even my father dares!
Zhao Xin seemed to see what He Xiyang was thinking, so he pretended to be evil and whispered: "Boy, are you very proud of it? Great, I will tell your father about you and that Indian girl in two days."
Ah!! He Xiyang opened his mouth in disbelief, thinking that this was really bad.
After another half an hour, Baranov, wearing a black sea otter fur hat, walked into the conference room with a smile under the leadership of the guards. This man had been waiting in Kinmen Town for more than 20 days.
He said that the special envoy from Beihai Town had arrived to see him, and he was as happy as if he had eaten bee shit. However, when he bowed to Zhao Xin and announced his home, and then heard the other party's fluent Russian, his whole body was suddenly struck by lightning.
His knees weakened and he collapsed on the ground.
Zhao Xinxin asked what was going on? It was not the Chinese New Year yet, and he was not interested in giving red envelopes. He immediately motioned to He Xiyang to help him to a chair, and asked the guard to pour him a cup of tea. Baranov knew he was rude and was ashamed.
With his face flushed, he thanked him and took the tea cup, trying to cover up his embarrassment by drinking water. However, while drinking water, he secretly glanced at the tall man opposite him from the corner of his eye.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! What Liu Sheng! What special envoy! The man in front of you is clearly the King of the North Sea who has made the entire Tsarist Empire talk about it!
Well, Zhao Xin thought he could fool people by using a fake identity, but what he didn't expect was that Baranov had met him and was deeply impressed.
Fifteen years ago, 33-year-old Baranov moved his family to Irkutsk from Kargopol on the Onega River. After that, he became a factory owner, acquired two factories locally, and
Organized numerous fishing expeditions to Northeast Asia and Alaska.
In 1788, the Northern Navy defeated the Russian army in the Battle of Yaksa. Zhao Xin and Liu Sheng then led the army westward and captured Irkutsk. At that time, Baranov was a member of the Tsarist Russian Empire Free Economic Association.
As an honorary member, he was honored to be the target of being beaten, and he and a dozen businessmen were called to the Military Control Commission for a lecture.
He was quite surprised at the time. He didn't expect that there were Chinese people who were so tall and could speak Russian so well. After a while, he found out that the person who lectured them that day was the commander-in-chief of the Chinese army.
More than a year later, as Beihai Town's rule in Irkutsk became increasingly stable, Baranov already knew who Zhao Xin was. However, by that time he had already accepted industrialist Grigory Ivan.
At the invitation of Norwich Shelikhov, he sailed to Alaska to serve as the business leader of the newly established "Northeast American Company".
Unexpectedly, unexpectedly, the King of the North Sea did not stay in the Far East, but actually came to the west coast of North America!
At this moment, Zhao Xin had already noticed something was wrong. The Russian in front of him seemed to be very afraid of him, so he asked in a tentative tone: "Mr. Baranov, have we met before?"
"Uh... I met him once. It was... six years ago, in Whitehall, Irkutsk."
Zhao Xin squinted his eyes and recalled for a moment, then said with confusion: "Are you... the boss of that glass factory? I also ordered someone to order a batch of flat glass from you, right?"
Baranov was overjoyed. He didn't expect that the other party actually remembered him. At this moment, his heart was as turbulent as the Bering Sea in winter. Fortunately, he didn't leave. He gritted his teeth and waited for another ten days in Kinmen, but in the end, he waited for this great god.
coming!
With an excited look on his face, he knelt down on one knee and said to Zhao Xin: "Your Majesty, please allow me, your humble subject, Alexander Andreevich Baranov to salute you again. See you again."
It is my lifelong honor to meet you. If you don't mind, you can call me Alexander."
It is said that Russian names usually consist of three parts, their own name, their father's name, and their family's surname.
"Get up, Alexander, there will be no need for red tape." Now that his identity was recognized, Zhao Xin stopped pretending. He said to Baranov with a serious expression: "I came here secretly this time, so
You know, don’t reveal my identity to anyone. Do you understand?”
"Your Majesty, please rest assured. As your loyal subject, I swear this in the name of Our Lady and my family."
The reason why Baranov is so groveling is because not only does his family live in Irkutsk, which should now be called Baibai City, but also because he has made developing the fur trade in Alaska his life's work.
Career. Now, for him, as long as he can get the nod from the King of the North Sea, it is no problem to monopolize the fur trade on the west coast of North America and the Pacific Ocean. It will be difficult for him not to develop!
Now there is no hope for the Czar in Europe. He can only rely on Beihai Town, so he will swear allegiance. Of course, this must be under the premise that Beihai Town supports him in exploring Alaska; if Zhao Xin does not support his plan,
He could only seek refuge with the British.
Zhao Xin nodded slightly and said: "I have roughly read your plan for "Huamei Trading Company". Let's talk about the details, starting with the charter."
"Okay, let me explain it to you in detail. My plan is like this..."
Just as Baranov began to tell, He Xiyang, who was standing behind Zhao Xin, also pressed the switch of the recording pen in his hand. Zhao Xin had just given him this recording pen and told him how to use it.
The so-called "charter" is actually a franchise. In later generations, many industries fell within this scope; such as aviation, insurance, and trusts, all of which require the government to grant franchise qualifications.
Specifically, what Baranov wants is mainly Alaska's fur trade monopoly and military defense. In his plan, the future "China-American Trading Company" needs to obtain hunting, trade, minerals, and navigation privileges.
For example, the company has the right to occupy new land south of 55° north latitude. As long as this area is not occupied by other countries, it can belong to Beihai Town and be operated by the company; and the resources acquired by the company are not limited to the surface of the earth, but also include
Minerals underground.
In addition, the company will recruit immigrants from Siberia, and Beihai Town will also allow the company to import and export goods to the immigration area duty-free; that is to say, the company actually has immigration rights and duty-free trade rights. At the same time, the company can also independently cooperate with other
The country signed trade treaties and even had its own flag and currency - a "mark" made of sea otter skin, for which the town of Beihai could collect high taxes from the Huamei Company.
Obviously, the franchise that Baranov wants is highly exclusive and monopolistic. He hopes that the limited period of the franchise will be at least 20 years, and the company can be renewed by the extension of the charter, unless the town of Beihai terminates its use.
In terms of the company's structure, his plan was to restructure it on the basis of the "Northeast American Trading Company". After all, the strongholds on the Aleutian Islands and Kodiak Island were both owned by Shelikhov and another shareholder Nikolay
Created by Petrovich Rezanov, the process was also full of hardships and bloodshed. For example, the "Sitkalidak Island Massacre" occurred in August 1784, in which nearly three thousand local indigenous people were massacred.
kill.
The current total capital of the Northeast North American Trading Company is 724,000 rubles, divided into 724 shares, each with one vote. Baranov's plan is to expand the total share capital to 1,000 shares, with the par value of each share remaining the same
It is one thousand rubles, and every 25 shares have one voting right. Only shareholders with at least 10 shares can participate in voting at the general meeting of shareholders.
How to put it this way, due to the vast area of Siberia, although the promotion of North Sea silver dollars has been ongoing, because local businessmen are accustomed to using rubles for settlement, Baranov still habitually calculates share capital in rubles.
One ruble is 28 grams of silver, and one tael of Kuping silver in the Qing Dynasty is 37.5 grams, equivalent to five Beihai dollars. Therefore, the face value per share is 149.33 Beihai dollars, which is nearly thirty taels of silver. The face value of this share capital does not seem to be much, 25
The share is only 750 taels. But you have to know that this amount of money is a lot of money for Europeans who are seriously short of precious metals!
In general, the granting of the concession will enable Huamei Trading Company to obtain a detached legal status, but it will also be extremely dependent on the support of Beihai Town.
The company will be granted a charter by Zhao Xin, the future emperor of East Asia, and thus obtain the status of a "legal person"; in terms of share capital, it will be jointly contributed by the businessmen participating in the company and Beihai Town, forming the company's common capital. All subordinates under the jurisdiction of Beihai Town
Citizens regardless of their status, rich or poor, can buy stocks, including those with Russian nationality living under Beihai Town.
In this sense, Huamei Trading Company will serve the national interests of Beihai Town and become a pawn in the occupation of Alaska; and this national interest is not only commercial interests, but also lays the policy foundation for the reasonable and legal annexation of Alaska.